Chapter 137 - The Otherworldly Cry
Everyone stood in stunned silence as our commanding officer—Michelle Gehabich—effortlessly tore through the swarm of Cosmic Beasts. Her aerial maneuvers were like a dance in the sky—fluid, fearless, and elegant. With each swift dive and twist, she unleashed precision laser strikes that pierced through enemy armor like paper.
In just a few blinks, four massive Cosmic Beasts had already fallen, their smoldering remains lighting up the atmosphere like falling stars. The sheer spectacle sent a surge of adrenaline through our veins and lit a fire of hope in the hearts of us first-years.
“Is that… the legendary Michelle Gehabich?” one of my fellow support units whispered, as if speaking too loudly would break the spell.
“Yeah! She’s so awesome, right?” a nearby WAIFU gasped, lowering her rail cannon with trembling awe still etched across her face.
Watching their reactions made my chest swell with pride. That’s my WAIFU partner they’re all cheering for. If this weren’t a combat zone, I’d probably be puffing out my chest, tossing in a humblebrag or two. But there’s no time for glory—I’m multitasking like mad, supporting two WAIFUs at once, something only I seem to be able to manage right now.
I shifted my gaze to Myrrh. She was frozen in wonder, her eyes fixed on the radiant figure of Michelle’s cyber dragon soaring through the technocolored clouds. Her blue eyes sparkled like sapphires, catching reflections from the shimmering laser trails streaking across the battlefield. The moment she caught me staring, her cheeks turned rosy, and she gave a playful little pout, clearly flustered.
“Zaft, activate my Ultimate and Beast Transformation too!” she suddenly chirped, hopping in place like an excited bunny, fists clenched in gleeful determination.
“You just want to show off…” I muttered, trying to suppress a grin.
“Who cares if I wanted to?” Myrrh snapped, her voice flaring with frustration. “I don’t want to let that monotone bitch beat me!”
I let out a long, exhausted breath, the kind that feels like it’s carrying the weight of the whole battlefield. I’d already dealt with more than enough bullshit tonight—Cosmic Beasts, overlapping commands, emotional outbursts—and my energy for arguing had been drained dry.
Fine. If showing off helps Myrrh fight harder, so be it. The sooner we eliminate the remaining Cosmic Beasts rampaging on the surface, the sooner we can crash somewhere and maybe, just maybe, sleep.
I tapped at the holographic HUD projected from my WEEB System, fingers moving toward the glowing [Level 10 – Beast Transformation] icon pulsing in the air. But just as I was about to hit the activation panel, a low buzz vibrated through my jacket pocket.
“Huh?” Myrrh muttered, her ears practically twitching. She must’ve sensed something too—probably connected her phone to her Frame Unit via Bluetooth or some cybernetic link, because she wasn’t even reaching for anything.
“Who the hell calls at this time of night?” I grumbled, fishing into my pocket with reluctance.
“It’s Agent Feena. She’s calling us,” Myrrh said, frowning slightly.
The name alone made me pause. I glanced at the screen. Sure enough, Agent Feena’s number was flashing in bright red, the device still buzzing insistently. My hand hovered over the WEEB System for a second longer, but I pulled it back and silenced the HUD. Priorities.
I stared blankly at the screen for a moment, then realized something even more jarring—it was already 2:00 AM. We’ve been locked in this warzone for an hour? It didn’t feel like it. Time had folded in on itself, lost in lasers, screams, and adrenaline. And now that I knew what time it was, a wave of exhaustion hit me like a slow, heavy truck. My limbs ached. My mind fogged.
Still, I pressed the green answer button and raised the phone to my ear.
“Hello?” I said in a mock-serious tone. “We’re not available for wine delivery at this ungodly hour, thank you very much.”
“Shut your trap, Zaft. This is an emergency!” Agent Feena’s voice shot through the speaker like a whip. “The Kaiserin just called me!”
That snapped me straight. “T-The Kaiserin?” Myrrh asked, her earlier excitement draining into anxious tension. “What happened?”
“She saw the apparition again,” Feena continued, breathless. “But this time… it was clear. Vivid. She described it in detail—and it matches perfectly with the woman you two keep talking about. The one named… Dianca Fritz.”
That name hit me like a thunderbolt to the chest. The fog in my brain vanished. I jolted upright, heart pounding. Myrrh and I locked eyes—silent, startled, shaken. There was no need for words between us. We knew this changed everything.
“And one more thing,” Feena said, her voice lowering slightly. “We’ve got new information on your friend… Neil Orbeus. I’m sending you an image captured from the plane orbiting above.”
My phone vibrated again—an urgent thrum against my palm. A new file had arrived: an image attachment. Without hesitation, I switched to hologram mode, and the air in front of me shimmered before expanding into a high-resolution projection.
What emerged twisted my stomach into a knot.
The image was a satellite scan—zoomed in and digitally enhanced 54,000 times—revealing the scarred surface of the alien planet hovering beyond the Xyraxis skies. We stared at a dead, alien wasteland. Its terrain was jagged and broken, smeared in surreal shades of black, scorched brown, and veins of shimmering gold that pulsed like living metal.
The ground looked wrong, like something sculpted by nightmare and decay rather than nature. And somewhere in that awful, distant terrain… something was waiting.
At the center of the holographic image was… something. It looked like a monolith—no, more like the jagged, petrified trunk of a colossal tree. Its surface was cracked and ancient, with small root-like tendrils branching out at its top, writhing faintly like dead veins twitching in an unseen breeze. Embedded in the very heart of the trunk was a radiant golden core—glowing, humming softly—and inside that core was the unmistakable silhouette of a man.
My breath caught. It was him, suspended within that core like a fossilized soul, arms weightless, eyes closed, like he was dreaming—or being imprisoned in a stasis of pure alien despair.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
Just behind the tree-trunk monolith loomed a being so vast, so impossibly huge, it made the entire colossal tree feel small.
She sat curled in a fetal position, hugging her knees as if trying to protect herself from the emptiness around her. She was made entirely of gleaming porcelain white, but coursing through her body were thick, pulsing black circuits—like vines of corruption infecting a divine statue. Her head was bowed, face hidden behind those massive golden arms. And though we couldn’t hear her, we felt her agony. She radiated silent suffering—grief so intense it warped the air around her.
She was crying. Crying without a sound. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovᴇlFɪre.nᴇt
“What in the world is that…?” Myrrh murmured, her voice soft and shaken, eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at the towering golden woman.
“…Dianca,” I whispered.
I didn’t know why I said it. A gut feeling, maybe. A memory sparked by something small—but unforgettable. Her hair. Long, flowing, and blue. It cascaded down her golden back in faded, ghostly strands. I remembered that hair swaying as she ran toward us with childlike joy, bouncing with every step, eager to join in whatever adventure we were up to.
Agent Feena’s voice broke through the moment.
“Myrrh, Zaft, listen closely,” she said, her tone steely and urgent. “You need to get to Exestia, now. The Kaiserin has authorized a swift assault on the alien planet. With your WMD Series, we may have the firepower to recover your friend—and if this works—end this Cosmic Invasion once and for all.”
“You’re saying that the gigantic woman is responsible for manifesting that planet above us?” I asked, my voice low, tense.
“Precisely,” Agent Feena replied without pause. “We’ll be waiting for the two of you. Godspeed.”
The call ended with a digital click, and the hologram blinked out, leaving us in the cold static of silence.
Three seconds passed—quiet, heavy, loud in its own way. Then the distant howls and explosions pulled us back to reality. The battlefield had worsened. More and more Cosmic Beasts were clawing through the upper atmosphere, shrieking as they descended like meteors of flesh and fury. The Archonlight Barrier now showed three jagged cracks—glowing fault lines in the shield that protected our last stronghold.
“Huh,” Myrrh exhaled, brushing strands of her hair behind her ear. “I guess I’ll just show off in another battlefront.”
I chuckled faintly, nodding. “Rescuing Neil and defeating Dianca comes first.”
Before we could say another word, a burst of wind and light erupted behind us. Michelle’s silver Frame Unit slammed into the ground, its armor steaming from combat. No longer in its dragon configuration, the Frame’s sleek humanoid form gleamed under the shattered sky. The drones that once orbited her were gone—spent or destroyed.
Michelle stepped out, calm but clearly drained. “I take it you two are heading off for a higher-stakes mission.”
“We’re sorry, Mich.” I gave a sheepish grin, scratching my head. “We have to get to the capital—fast.”
“Exestia is about an hour from here by standard transport,” Michelle said, folding her arms. “Are you going to make it in time?”
“We could reach it sooner if we fly,” Myrrh replied, her eyes lighting up. “Zaft, activate my Beast Transformation—”
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Michelle cut in, her voice firm.
She pointed upward, toward the ominous sphere hanging in the sky like a second, cursed moon. “You’re headed up there, right? The airspace is swarming with Cosmic Beasts. It’s only going to get worse. You need to save your strength, Myrrh.”
Myrrh frowned, clearly torn. “Then how are we supposed to reach Exestia faster?”
And then, out of nowhere, a bold, theatrical voice echoed through the smoke-filled battlefield:
“Don’t worry! I am here!”